A video of an eight-year-old boy sitting with his younger brother’s body and waiting for an ambulance next to a drain in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena went viral on Sunday.
It has emerged that the father of the deceased, Poojaram, a tyre mechanic, was unable to pay ₹2,000 that the ambulance drivers had been demanding for shifting the body to his native village. Leaving the body in his other son’s care, he went out looking for affordable transport options.
Mr. Poojaram said he was told by the hospital authorities that they did not have a vehicle at hand, and he would have to pay for one outside.
Online backlash
The incident led to an online backlash, with many questioning the delivery of health services in the State and how the poor were denied the same.
The incident came to light when passers-by questioned the young boy, sitting with the body, about his parents. The boy said he was carrying the body of his younger brother and was waiting for their father to return with a vehicle to transport the corpse. Soon, more people gathered and started searching for the father. Mr. Poojaram was later found pleading with drivers of private ambulances to settle for a lower amount.
The local media spoke to him at which he broke down and recounted the ordeal. The police reached the spot and helped in transportation of the body.
The two-year-old Raja was anaemic and was taken to the district hospital where he died during treatment.
